The Hedgehog
by LaurielS
Summary: Lord Elrond finally gets some time off and spends it with his new foster son... when a little hedgehog walks by. (One shot) Father-son moment. Reviews and comments are welcomed.


**The Hedgehog**

Author's note: Okay, this was the story that I had written during my Christmas break that I think is finally ready to be presented to the readers. Hope it isn't that terrible! I revised this after taking into consideration all the reviews I had from my past stories. Reviews and comments for this story are very much appreciated.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything, just my own ideas.

Here's the story:

**The Hedgehog**

It was one of those rare days when Lord Elrond finally has a break from his work. He had been hoping to spend this time with his new foster son but the little child was nowhere to be seen. He had checked both Estel's and Gilraen's bedroom (where Estel spends most of his time when he was not studying), but could find neither the mother nor the child.

Wondering where they could have gone, Elrond rather absent-mindedly strolled into the gardens. It was there when he saw Estel playing alone on the grass patch, with his mother sitting on a small bench, watching him closely. At this sight, Elrond smiled. It was good to see that both the mother and the child were slowly opening up their hearts again. Going closer to the small boy, he could see that Estel was enacting out a bedtime story his brothers had told him last night which Elrond just happened to hear as he went to check on his new foster child.

"And a bunny hop into the gar'ens an' –Mama wha's that?!" exclaimed little Estel, pointing to a small spiky ball sniffing around, minding its own business.

"That, Estel, is a hedgehog," said Elrond, replying the small child before his mother had the chance to.

Upon hearing Lord Elrond's voice, Gilraen stood up immediately and gave a hurried curtsy.

"My Lord Elrond. I am sorry I did not hear you coming. Estel, where are you manners?"

Little Estel hurried over and gave a little bow. "Hir nin*," whispered the child, a little uncertain of himself.

Elrond tried his best to suppress a wince and squeeze out a small smile. "'Ada' will do, my little one," corrected Elrond gently and turned to face Gilraen with a graceful smile. "My dear lady, do dispense with the formalities. Estel is already my foster son."

Gilraen smiled meekly and replied, "thank you for all this, my Lord."

Elrond gave her a kind smile, went over and took the little boy's hand (which resisted a little at first, before relaxing) and led him slowly to the hedgehog.

Estel squatted down and attempted to stroke the hedgehog lightly. As he touched the hedgehog, it seemed to give a little jump and curled up into a tight ball. Estel, like the hedgehog, also gave a small jump and snuggled a little closer to Elrond.

"It's spi'y" exclaimed Estel.

"Hedgehogs have spikes, Estel. However, this one is still young, and its spikes are not yet fully grown."

Estel nodded and continued to stare at the hedgehog. After a short while, the hedgehog peaked out of its little ball and sniffed around. Checking that there seems to be no apparent danger, the hedgehog trotted a little, its little nose constantly sniffing here and there.

"It's so cute," breathed Estel, keeping his voice as low as possible in case it scared the little animal.

Elrond smiled as he observed his foster son stare transfixed at the hedgehog. He could not help but remember a long time ago when his twin sons first discovered a baby wolf that had wondered into the gardens. He remembered how he had seen his sons follow the baby wolf around the entire day and gave a small, rather unlordly, chuckle.

Estel, it seemed, shared the love of nature that elves do.

"Do you want the hedgehog to come near you, Estel?"

Estel looked at him with his beady eyes, very much surprised. "Can it?"

Elrond nodded, gathered bits of berries and mushroom and gave Estel a pair of old gardener's gloves. After Estel had put on the gloves, he placed some berries into Estel's hands.

The little hedgehog continued to sniff around the gardens, but this time, it detected something it had been trying to find in ages.

Food.

_Mmm, berries_, it thought, _better than nothing_.

Quickly, it scurried over to Estel's hand and picked up the berries, munching them up one by one. Slowly and cautiously, Estel tried to pick the hedgehog up. However, the hedgehog was a shy one and rolled up whenever Estel made any small movements, which to a hedgehog felt like a gigantic earthquake. Very soon, Estel felt like giving up.

"I'm sure you will succeed Estel. The hedgehog is trying to get used to you. Try again," prompted Elrond softly.

And so, with this little encouragement, little Estel furrowed his brows in concentration and tried again.

After about six tries, the little hedgehog seemed to have gotten used to him, continue eating the mushrooms that Elrond was supplying into Estel's hands (because berries had run out) even when Estel moved. By the twelfth try, Estel managed to pick up the hedgehog without scaring the hedgehog too much. The hedgehog had also gotten used to the 'gigantic earthquakes' and was now lapping up the mushrooms at a greater speed, its little nose still wriggling.

Delighted, the little boy picked up the tiny hedgehog and walked to his mother, careful not to drop it. His face, however, was lit with happiness that just a year ago, Gilraen had thought never to see on her child again.

"Mama look! A hed'hog!"

Gilraen smiled at the little boy, glad that Estel was slowly reverting to the child he used to be, "and so it is, my son."

Estel smiled sweetly at his mother before putting the hedgehog down to the grass again. The hedgehog, freed once more from the hands that had finally run out of berries and mushrooms, scurried away in search of more food. Much as Estel wanted to claim the hedgehog as its own, he preferred to see them wild and free in their natural environment. The little boy's face glowed with happiness as he saw the hedgehog scuffle about the garden. Then, he went over to Elrond and gave him as big a hug as a three year old could.

"Thank you, Ad…Ada!" exclaimed the little boy, still somewhat uncertain to call Elrond "Ada".

Elrond hugged the little boy back, savouring the fact that Estel had finally called him his foster father on his own will. It was a start.

"Thank you too, Estel."

-The End-

_*Hir nin: My Lord_


End file.
